Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 24th July

In this Bulletin…

- Gene-doping of athletes by Chinese doctors shocks experts;
- Beijing to allow approved demonstrations in designated areas during Olympics; and
- Strong earthquake rocks northern Japan.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China

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The death of a villager in Xiaoguan county of Shangdon Province’s Wengden city from a mystery illness several months ago has been kept quiet by authorities apparently implementing a news blockade. Details are only now coming to light.

The body of the deceased turned a purple-red colour, and bled out of the eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Two people who were in contact with the dead man died of the same symptoms soon after.

According to a villager working away from home, there have been several more patients with these symptoms admitted to Wendeng City Hospital. He said officials stated they have already dispatched experts to investigate the outbreak, but do not yet know what the illness is.

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According to a documentary, titled “China’s Peak” by Germany’s ARD television station, a Chinese doctor has provided stem-cell treatment to a reporter pretending to be an America swimming coach.

The documentary revelation of gene-doping practices by Chinese doctors to enhance the physical abilities of athletes has shocked anti-doping experts ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

According to AFP reports, the documentary exposed that coach Hsu Hueqing, who has been banned twice, is still coaching the Chinese national woman’s swimming team.

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Authorities in Beijing have announced demonstrations will be allowed in three designated city parks during the Olympic Games.

But anyone wanting to protest will have to apply for permission from the city’s government and police. It is not currently clear how potential protesters would apply for permission, and whether spontaneous demonstrations would be tolerated.

Any activities involving ethnicity, politics or religion will not be allowed inside Olympic venues.

Previously, Olympic cities have set aside areas for protests, “Past organisers have found ways to manage any protests, and the Chinese authorities were encouraged to do the same,” said an IOC spokeswoman.

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The wife of a blind, jailed Chinese rights activist has appealed to Chinese leader Hu Jintao to end official harassment of her family, saying she cannot wait for the Olympics to end.

Yuan Weijing’s husband, Chen Guangcheng, was jailed for four years and three months last year for disrupting traffic and damaging property, charges his wife and critics say were concocted by officials angry at his exposure of forced late-term abortions in his home town in Shandong Province.

“I once believed the Olympics would give the people of China a sense of pride and happiness, and allow the world to see how greatly China has been transformed by its rapid economic growth. I now feel only extreme disappointment,” Yuan wrote, in a copy of the letter provided by the group Human Rights in China.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck northern Japan in the early hours of today, injuring over 100 people. A clean-up operation is now under way.

Most services have been restored, though disruption to train services is still reported and some smaller roads remain blocked by landslides.

Military helicopters are scouring the region for trapped quake victims, but no deaths have yet been reported.
Experts said the depth of the quake had prevented more serious casualties.

“Despite such a powerful earthquake, the damage was minimum because the epicentre was so deep,” said Ryohei Morimoto, from Tokyo University.

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Asia’s top security forum has reached an agreement on military exercises aimed at forging a regional taskforce to deal with calamities like those that struck Myanmar and China this year.

The ASEAN Regional Forum resolved two years ago to develop guidelines for joint disaster relief, but the confused response to cyclone Nargis showed that little has been done since then.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said today’s meeting of the 27-nation security dialogue, which takes in the 10-member Southeast Asian bloc as well as the US, China and Russia, had gone “quite deep” into the issue.

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“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”